Coast Guard releases death incident report

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BY STAR STAFF

Posted:

Mon, 04/14/2014 - 5:57am

The U.S. Coast Guard recently released the Major Incident Investigation (MII) Report into the incident aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Waesche, which resulted in the death of Petty Officer 3rd Class Travis Obendorf.

Obendorf was a crewmember aboard the Alameda-based Coast Guard Cutter Waesche. He died in a Seattle hospital Dec. 18, 2013, as a result of injuries he sustained during search and rescue operations near Amak Island, Alaska, Nov. 11, 2013.

The report identifies causal and contributing factors, including equipment failure, placement of small boat personnel and prevailing weather conditions.

The investigation found that a capture system designed to automatically secure the small boat into the stern during recovery operations did not function as designed most of the time.

To overcome this deficiency, crew member Petty Officer Obendorf was posted in front of the small boat center console to manually assist the mechanism during recovery operations.

A wave struck the stern of the small boat as it was recovering, pinning Petty Officer Obendorf between the capture mechanism and the small boat console.

"Petty Officer Obendorf and his family are and will continue to be in our thoughts and prayers,” Vice Adm. Paul K. Zukunft, Pacific Area Commander said.